- Aug 6, 2012
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Europe takes their citizens privacy seriously. Even google has to receive permission from users on their site.
Facebook parent company Meta was hit with a record 1.2 billion euro ($1.75 billion Cdn) fine by its lead European Union privacy regulator over its handling of user information and given five months to stop transferring users' data to the United States.
The fine, imposed by Ireland's Data Protection Commissioner (DPC), came after Meta continued to transfer data beyond a 2020 EU court ruling that invalidated an EU-U.S. data transfer pact. It tops the previous record EU privacy fine of 746 million euros ($1.09 billion Cdn) handed by Luxembourg to Amazon.com Inc in 2021.
The battle over where Meta's Facebook stores its data began a decade ago after Austrian privacy campaigner Max Schrems brought a legal challenge over the risk of U.S. snooping in light of disclosures by former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.
The social media giant reiterated that it expected a new pact facilitating the safe transfer of EU citizens' personal data to the United States would be fully implemented before it has to suspend transfers.
That would mean its previous warning that a stoppage could force it to suspend Facebook services in Europe would not come to pass.
Facebook parent company Meta was hit with a record 1.2 billion euro ($1.75 billion Cdn) fine by its lead European Union privacy regulator over its handling of user information and given five months to stop transferring users' data to the United States.
The fine, imposed by Ireland's Data Protection Commissioner (DPC), came after Meta continued to transfer data beyond a 2020 EU court ruling that invalidated an EU-U.S. data transfer pact. It tops the previous record EU privacy fine of 746 million euros ($1.09 billion Cdn) handed by Luxembourg to Amazon.com Inc in 2021.
The battle over where Meta's Facebook stores its data began a decade ago after Austrian privacy campaigner Max Schrems brought a legal challenge over the risk of U.S. snooping in light of disclosures by former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.
'Flawed, unjustified'
"This decision is flawed, unjustified and sets a dangerous precedent for the countless other companies transferring data between the EU and U.S.," Nick Clegg, Meta's president of global affairs, and chief legal officer Jennifer Newstead said in a statement.The social media giant reiterated that it expected a new pact facilitating the safe transfer of EU citizens' personal data to the United States would be fully implemented before it has to suspend transfers.
That would mean its previous warning that a stoppage could force it to suspend Facebook services in Europe would not come to pass.
